Question
NGT outline
CROSS FUNCTIONAL (BY LEVEL) SESSION (for end of day one)
GOAL: Organize themes to discuss with total group that identify what we do well and what needs to change. Assign priorities to these themes: their importance at the specific level of organization for which the cross functional team is composed.
Total time available: 2–2 1?2 hours.
Process nominal group technique:
o Describe what NGT is and how it works in general terms. On one page,
create your facilitator notes for what you will say and show to the group to
complete this task.
Present a detailed step-by-step outline—with time frames—for the group to
follow in achieving the overall goal.
o Describe how you would have the team group items together. (One option would be to use colored markers and have people star like items by color. Another might be to have people assign common letters to like items starting a new letter for any new common theme.)
o Based on the choice you made above, would it be an individual task or a controlled group task? The object is to create as much participation and sharing of valid information to increase understanding and build commitment to the overall result.
o These steps will create a list of themes. The following steps will set priorities for all themes that relate to being targets for change.
o What voting method would you use? You can assign each person a certain number of ?votes? to allocate across the items to set priorities or you can have each person mark each theme with a number or letter that indicates the level of the priority—for example, the ABC priority approach or HML (high, medium, and low priority) or a 1–10 scale where 10 is a key priority and 1 is a very low priority.
o How do you summarize the results to create the top 3–5 issues to present to the overall group? Remember, you may need several rounds of ?voting and discussion? to end up with a few key priorities for action. Estimate how much time each would take and how many rounds you feel are necessary.
Answer
Changing for Success
Part 1
Most people in the globe are accustomed to the normality that exists in their lives or in the organizations they run or work for. However, only the brave individuals who are willing to take the risk of stepping into the unknown change the process of an organization to make them better. Making changes or becoming different in a positive manner will lead to better yields and an increase in the overall production of an organization or an individual. Change is inevitable, and each and every person should always be prepared to make the changes necessary to make them move to the next step. However, change is not sudden, and a detailed research needs to be conducted to identify the need for change in a process, product or service before embarking on a mission to implement the change. In most cases, groups and organizations normally employ the Nominal Group Technique (NGT) that comprise of the process involving problem identification, solution generation, and decision making (Harvey, 2012). Nominal group technique consists of a structured method for group brainstorming that encourages and takes a contribution from all the individuals in the organization or the group before making the final decision.
However, not all situations in a group call for the exploitation and employment of the process. Some of the instances where nominal group technique can be effectively used in an organization include:
- When some members of a group that is active than others. In most instances, the active members of the organization are always vocal than the passive members, and this shows that there is the need for a change.
- When some members of a group think better in silent. There are those individuals who work better in silent and thus in most cases; they need privacy to come with better ideas, concepts, and solutions.
- When a group recruits new members in the team. At times, a group may be forced to recruit part of the team or at times all the members of the team. At such situation, the group is supposed to employ the nominal group technique.
Part 2
Part A
One of the key areas that the community needs to change is improving the neighborhoods and the environment where kids and their families can live comfortability. This dream and objective can only be achieved through promotion of access to good schools and affordable homes and job opportunities. The basic goal of this session is to create awareness and inform all the people of the importance of the creation of a peaceful and enabling environment for all individuals especially the kids to grow and improve. The children are the future of the community, and the life and treatment they receive from their parents and the community, in general, will determine their future, and they are likely to reciprocate it to their children. Thus, it is of necessity for the youth to come together and help in educating the community about the importance of the environment in which we let our children grow in (Hiligsmann, 2013). Other objectives of the group are to educate all people both young and old on how they can build an affordable home and how they can increase job opportunities in the community by investing.
Part B
Nominal group technique seeks to get each one’s ideas, evaluating the possibility of the implementation n and success of the idea before it can be employed. Thus considering a large number of the youths in the society who are willing to participate in this activity and change process, the nominal group technique will be effective since some of the members are active and vocals than others; some are new to the programs and others like thinking in private and in silence. For the technique to work, the group leader needs to state the problem at hand or rather the subject of brainstorming, in this case, being various ways that the community can create and improve our neighborhoods through increasing access to schools, building affordable homes and increasing job opportunities. Each member of the team will be required to take time and think silently before presenting his ideas to the team so that it can be discussed and necessary changes before choosing the best of the best in each case.
Part C
Proper coordination is the key to ensuring that there is cohesion and ensuring that there is an effective execution of the plan for achievement of the group goals and objectives. For the group to work together, the group will be divided into smaller subgroups of five people with each person assigned a topic that he or she will have to present to the members of the community. To avoid confusion, each group will have a group leader, and each group will be assigned separate area from others, and they have to report to the overall team leader of the response and reaction of the members of the community (Shortt, 2010). If any of the group members is not comfortable with the current group he or she will be assigned to another group.
Part D
To achieve the goals and objectives of the organization, the team members will be expected to hold seminars and conferences in churches or other public places to hold the discussion with the members of the community. After the delivery of their presentation, the presenter will be expected to answer or clarify any issues that will not be clear to the community to ensure that they are all on the same page. Moreover, if necessary, these group members will leave their contacts to all people so that they can be contacted in case of anything or further help. In those cases where presenters are unable to address certain issues, the group members are expected to come to the aid of the presenter and help them out.
Part E
To save time and to ensure that we get to the whole community on time, each group will be allocated a single day at each seminar to present all their ideas. On the same not note no group will be allowed to last in an area for more than a week. Moreover, a secret ballot will be used when choosing group leaders and the overall team leaders to ensure there are enough privacy and democracy in the group. Moreover, the same secret ballot technique will be used when choosing the best strategies and alternatives to present to the community to enable them to change the course of their lives by making it better (Harvey, 2012). The voting process will start by the presentation of the ideas where the members of the team are expected to debate on the issues at hand. Then the moderator of the team and other team leaders will oversee the voting process to ensure there is no violation of any voting rule and announce the results after counting of the casted votes
References
Harvey, N. &. (2012). Nominal group technique: an effective method for obtaining group consensus. International journal of nursing practice, 18(2), , 188-194.
Hiligsmann, M. D. (2013). Nominal group technique to select attributes for discrete choice experiments: an example for drug treatment choice in osteoporosis.
Shortt, S. E. (2010). Defining quality criteria for online continuing medical education modules using modified nominal group technique. . Journal of Continuing Education in the Health Professions, 30(4),, 246-250.
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